CDPH Awards $13 Million in HIV Prevention and Housing Grants to Local Agencies
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CHICAGO – The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) awarded $13 million to more than 50 local non-profit organizations to provide HIV prevention and housing services to residents. These awards follow the recent release of a new surveillance report detailing the significant progress Chicago has made in decreasing HIV infection rates and improving overall engagement in care by people living with HIV/AIDS. They also mark the latest efforts in CDPH’s ongoing work to aggressively combat the spread of HIV among the most at-risk populations in Chicago by funding proven prevention and retention in care strategies.

“We have made real progress over the past decade and these investments will help us build on that work.” said CDPH Acting Commissioner Julie Morita, M.D. “I am confident that through these new and existing partnerships we will continue to make strides in our work to protect the health of Chicagoans.”

CDPH awarded $8 million to provide housing assistance, housing information services and rental assistance in Chicago and the surrounding area for low income individuals and families affected by HIV and AIDS. This funding is provided through the 2015 Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program grant, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

CDPH awarded $5 million in City and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds to community-based organizations and health care providers to increase education, testing and linkage to care efforts aimed at reducing new infections, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), adolescents and young adults, African American females, and other at-risk populations. Funds were also made available to implement new, evidence-based interventions like access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk individuals who are not infected with HIV.

“Our growing PrEP clinic has already enrolled more than 500 patients,” said David Ernesto Munar, President and CEO of Howard Brown Health Center, one of the 50 agencies awards funding by CDPH. “These dollars will support PrEP education and outreach work across the city and enable us to reach hundreds more who can benefit from this proven prevention strategy.”

The awards reflect a number of key changes in response to the Chicago-Area HIV Integrated Services Council’s (CAHISC) 2014 Unified Plan , partner feedback and the latest trends of the HIV epidemic outlined in the CDPH’s recent surveillance report.

“From our integrated model for community planning to the steady decline in the number of new HIV infections for more than a decade, Chicago has become a leader in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Nanette Benbow, CDPH’s Deputy Commissioner of HIV/STI Services.

CDPH released the request for proposals (RFP) for the 2015 HIV Prevention and HOPWA grants in November 2014 and all programs are scheduled to begin in January 2015.

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The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) works to make Chicago a safer and healthier place by working with community partners to promote health, prevent disease, reduce environmental hazards and ensure access to health care for all Chicagoans. Visit us at www.cityofchicago.org/health to learn more about how CDPH is transforming the health of our city.

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